Railroad snow-excavator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

J. N. BUTLER. RAILROAD snow EXGAVATOR.

No. 332,876. PatexfiFed Dec. 22, 1885.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. N. BUTLER. RAILROAD SNOW EXGAVATOL I No. 332,876. h Patented-Dec. 22,1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. BUTLER, OF KINGSLEY, IOWA.

RAILROAD SNOW-EXCAVATOR.

SP'ECIFICATION'forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,876, datedDecember 22, 1885.

Application filed April 30, 1885. Serial No. 164,047. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN N. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kingsley, in the county of Plymouth and State of Iowa, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in RailroadSnow-Excavators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to improvements in devices for clearing snowand ice from railroad-tracks; andit consists in the construction, novelarrangement, and adaptation of parts, as will be hereinafter more fullyset forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, to which similar letters of reference aremade indicating corresponding parts in the several views, Figure l is arepresentation of a side elevation of a flat-car on a section of trackwith my improvements applied. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the deviceremoved from the car, and Fig. 3 is a front view of the device inposition on the track.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A indicates a freight-car ofthe class known as a flat-car, and may be of any ordinary approvedconstruction, and B is a section of a railroad,the car being arrangedthereon. Any number of cars may be employed, according to the amount ofsnow to be removed from the track. I provide such cars with a frame orbed, covering the entire top of the car, and inclining to opposite sidesfrom a longitudinal central point, which is elevated sufficiently togive the same a lateral pitch of about a foot or more, so that the snowor ice, as the car leaves the cut, will slide down the incline from thecar and unload itself. This frame may be made of boards or othersuitable material, faced with sheet metal, and removably secured to thecar, so that it may be readily removed therefrom when it is desirable touse the car for other purposes. This attachment may be applied to carsat a very small expense, and will not impair the usefulness of thelatter in any manner whatever.

D indicates the excavator, which consists of a rearwardly-inclinedframe, connected at its upper rear end by any suitable means to theforward end of the bed 0 on the car A, and is of a substantially similarformin cross-section to'that of the said bed, being inclined to oppositesides from a longitudinal central point. The base of these inclines maybe bounded by a narrow longitudinal ledge or vertical flange, to guidethe snow as it is taken from the roadway to the top of the cars andprevent the same from falling over the sides during the elevationthereto. The forward transverse edge of this excavator is serrated ortoothed, as shown, and tapers rearwardly from a central point, as morefully shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. serrated edge G extends asufficient distance rearwardly a vertical rearwardly -inclined cutter,L, and at the rear ends of these tapering sides G and base of theinclines M are similar and diverging cutters, P P. This excavator issupported on the track in front of the car by means of a small truck ofany suitable construction so. as to bring thecuttingedge of the saidexcavator a slight distance above the track-rails.

S S indicate shoes arranged in front of the truck-wheels, and flange thetrack so as to clear the same in advance of said wheels duringoperation.

Having described this invention, what I claim is- 1. A snow-excavatorfor railroads, consisting of an upwardly and rearwardly inclined framehaving a pitch to opposite sides from a longitudinal central point, anda forward cutting-edge tapering rearwardly from its center, and providedwith lateral and an intermediate vertical cutter, the whole supported onatruck and adapted to serve in front of a car, substantially asspecified.

2. A snow-excavator for railroads, consisting of an inclined framehaving a forward cutting-edge tapering rearwardly from a central point,a vertically-inclined cutter rising from the said point, and similarcutters arranged at the rear ends of the said tapering edge, the wholemounted upon wheels and adapted to serve in front of a car having anoppositely-inclined top, substantially as specified.

JOHN N. BUTLER.

Witnesses:

J P. GASPAR, L. GASPAR.

From the central point, F, of this

